St. Landry democrat., 1887-08-13

mean some time to attend to this mat
teri My friend, you are going, to lose
the comfort of your household in the
same way the sinner loses Heaven, by
procrastination. I see all around me the
destitute and suffering families of parents
who meant some day to attend to this
Christian duty. During the process OF
adjournment the man gets his feet wet,
then comes chill and delirium, and the
doleful shake of the doctors head, and the
obseuuies. If there be anything more
pitiable than woman delicately brought
up, and on her marriage day, by an in
dulgent father, given to man to whom
she is the chief joy and pride of life un-
til the moment of his death, and then
that same woman going out with help
less children at her back to struggle for
bread in a world where brawny muscle
and rugged soul are necessarily say, If
there be anything more pltlable than
that, I do not know what it is. And yet
there are good women who are inditfer-
ent in regard to their husbands duty in
this respect; and there are those posi-
lively hostile, as though life insurance
subjected man to some fatality. There
is in Brooklyn to-day very poor woman
keeping small candy shop, who vehe-
mently opposed the insurance of her
husbands life, and when applica-
ton had been made for pol
icy of ten thousand dollars she frus
trated it. She would never have docu-
ment in the house that implied it was
possible for her husband to die. One
day, in the revolution of machinery, his
life was instantly dashed out. What is
the sequel? She is, with annoying tug,
making the half of a miserable living.
Her two children have been taken away
from her in order that they may be
clothed and schooled, and her life is to
be prolonged hardship. O. man, be-
fore forty-eight hours have passed
away, appear at the desk of some of our
great life insurance companies, have the
stethescope of the physician put to your
heart and lungs, and by the seal of some
honest company decree that your chill
dren shall not be subjected to the humil-
iation of financial struggle in the days OF
your demise.
But must ask the men engaged in life
insurance business whether they feel
the importance of their trust and charge
them i must that they need divine grace
to help them in their work. In this day,
line of business, you will be tempted to
overstate the amount of assets and the
extent of the surplus, and you will be
tempted to abuse the franchise of the
company and make up the deficits of one
year by adding some of the receipts of
another year and you will be tempted
to send out mean, anonymous circulars,
derogatory to other companies, forget
f,,1 - no 20 hat
nication means only two things-the cow
of the police in allowing such thing
penitentiary. Under the mighty pres
sure many have gone down, and you
will follow them if you have too much
confidence in yourself, and do not ap-
peal to the Lord for positive help. But
if any of you belong to that miscreant
class of people who, without any tinan-
cial ability, organize themselves into
what they call life insurance company,
with pretended capital of two hundred
thousand dollars or three hundred thou
sand dollars, then vote yourself into the
lucrative position, and then take all the
premiums for yourself and then, at the
approach of the State superintendent,
ance undertakes whose business it is to
gather up the remains of defunct organi-
cations and bury them in their own
vault-then, | say, you had better get out
of the business, and disgorge the
widows houses you have swallowed.
But my word is to all those who
are legitimately engaged in the
business: You ought to be better
than other men, not onl y because Of the
responsibilities that rest upon you, but
because the truth is ever confronting you
that your stay on earth is uncertain and
your life matter of few days or years.
Do not those black-edged letters that
come into your office make you think
Does not the doctors certificate on the
deathclaim give you thrill? Your
periodicals., your advertisements, and
even the TYPOGRAPHY of your policies
warn you that you are mortal. According
to your own showing the chances that you
will die this year are at least two per cent.
Are you prepared for the tremendous ex-
igency? The most condemned man in
the Judgment Day will be the unpre-
pared life insurance man, for the simple
reason that his whole business was con-
nected with human exit, and he cannot
say: II did not think" His whole bust
ness was to think on that one thing. o,
my brother, get insured for eternity. In
consideration of what Christ has done in
your behalf, have the indenture this day
made out, signed and sealed with the red
seal of the cross.
But I have words of encouragement
and comfort for those of my hearers who
are engaged in the fire insurance BUSH
ness You are ordained by God to stand
between us and the most raging element
of nature We are indebted to you for
what the National Board of Underwriters
and the Convention of Chiefs of the Fire
Department have effected through your
suggestions, and through your encour-
agement. We are indebted to you for
what you have effected in the construc-
ton of buildings, and in the change in the
habits of our cities, so that by scientific
principles orderly companies extinguish
the fire, instead of the old-time riots
which used to extinguish the citizens!
And we are indebted to you for the sue
cessful demands you have made for the
repeal of unjust laws-for the battle
you have waged against incendiarism
and arson-for the fatal blow you have
given to the theory that corporations
have no souls, by the cheerfulness and
promptitude with which you have met
losses, from which you might have